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Fresh from his fourth title in Auckland, David Ferrer faces a four-hour flight to Melbourne and a first-round Australian Open match on Monday, but he refuses to be upset with the schedule.

The Spaniard heads to the first grand slam of the year in Melbourne after equalling Roy Emerson's Auckland title record when he beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 6-1 on Saturday.

Ferrer, ranked five in the world but seeded fourth in the absence of Rafael Nadal, now plays veteran Belgian Olivier Rochus on Monday.

"Of course it's tough, but we know that rule and I won't complain," Ferrer said after his victory in Auckland.

"I prefer to have won here and play Monday every year."

Ferrer's seven ATP titles were more than any other man on tour in 2012 and he also broke through for his first ATP Masters 1000 title.

But he has yet to progress further than the last four in one of the majors and knows he needs to win one to join the game's elite.

"I am a legend in my home, not as a tennis player," he said.

"Roy Emerson, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic is a legend, but not me. I need to win more important tournaments like a grand slam."

Ferrer doesn't have the weapons of Federer, Djokovic or Andy Murray, but makes up for it with his speed - he probably runs more kilometres on a court during a tennis season than anyone - and his ability to get a ball back.

He put them to good use against Kohlschreiber, twice recovering from breaks in the first set before easily winning the second.

"It's very tough to play against him because you have to play every ball on the limit," the German said.

"In the second set he was too good, all over the place."

The highest-seeded names in Ferrer's quarter of the draw are Janko Tipsarevic, who has only beaten him once, and Nicolas Almagro, who has never beaten Ferrer.

If he makes it to the semi-finals he will face Djokovic, who has beaten Ferrer nine times in 14 clashes and has won their last three matches.